how tight should safety lines be

[scott hall]

I have a Hunter 23. Has one wire safety line and was looking on internet and you tube to see how tight they should be. Don't see any info. Don't want to have problems with stanchions? by over tightening. Does anyone have idea. I can probably move mine up or down about 5 or 6 inches if pull up or down hard.

Thanks Scott

 

[Brian D]

Not so loose that they are useless, and not so tight that they will cut you in half if you fall on them. On my Lancer there is a bout an inch play in the wire rope safety lines.

This from http://www.apsltd.com/aps-advisor/measure-sailboat-lifelines/

"Equally tension your lifelines over the entire system length on both the port and starboard sides. Be sure that the load is traveling and transferring to the pulpits (not just against a stanchion). Generally speaking if you take the longest unsupported length of the system (say two stanchions that are the farthest apart) and apply 10 pounds of force at the midpoint (midway between the two stanchions), the wire should deflect no more than 2 inches. The tighter they are the better, as long as you are not straining your stanchion inboard or making gate eyes too difficult to operate."

 

[Jackdaw]

If you do not race, tighter is better. Just not so tight that the static load wants to pull the stanchions inward. The tightness will not affect how it will feel if you fall on them. Trust me on that.

If you race, that tightness will hurt as you try to hike out. So looser, but that is hard on the stanchions.